Three Volusia County cities — DeBary, Orange City and Ponce Inlet — are having elections for their councils Tuesday. Orange City Mayor Harley Strickland faces a challenge from two councilmen, Jeff Allebach and Tom Laputka, while Councilman Tom Abraham will face challenger Paul Rasch. DeBary has a four-way race for Seat 4, with Leon Cerankowski, Dawn Fitzpatrick, Lita Handy-Peters and Bob Waldorf. In Ponce Inlet, Mary Hoss and Joe Villanella are vying for Seat 3. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and locations are available at volusia.org/elections.

Last year, two incumbents were voted off the DeBary City Council, and this year Nov. 4 could be Mayor George Coleman's day of reckoning. DeBary voters are still reeling from Tropical Storm Fay, which flooded more than 130 homes and often left Coleman on the defensive. He is running for re-election against former Army man Bob Garcia. Van Conoley and Mark Meister are running for council Seat 3. The River City is also facing a proposal for a quarter-horse racetrack, which could be built in a cow pasture.

Four people who have not been elected to political office before are competing for Seat 4 on the DeBary City Council in the Sept. 13 election. The field includes Leon Cerankowski, Dawn Fitzpatrick, Lita Handy-Peters and Bob Waldorf. The nonpartisan race is the city's only contested election. Mayor Bob Garcia and Councilman Dan Hunt, who holds Seat 3, won re-election without opposition. If no candidate wins the Seat 4 election outright with more than 50 percent of the vote, the two leading candidates will face off Nov. 8. Waldorf is making his second bid for office in DeBary.

The Music on the Green concert series will begin a new season at 5 p.m. today when The Monterays perform at the DeBary City Hall River City Bandstand. The concert is free and sponsored by Highbanks Marina and Camp Resort. The Citizens for DeBary still has openings for sponsors for this season's concert series. For more information on sponsorship and Citizens for DeBary volunteers, call Bill Thomas at 407-668-4287. OUTREACH PROGRAM FLORIDA HOSPITAL Fish Memorial's Diabetes Outreach Program will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Summit Building, conference room 211A, across from the hospital's emergency-room entrance.

Boxes are unpacked and the walls are bare. There are no blinds on the office windows and the space reserved for filing cabinets is empty.But DeBary City Hall is shaping up quickly.The grounds are sodded and the newly renovated former bank building at 137 South U.S. Highway 17-92 sparkles with an inviting airiness.Best of all, it has space - 1,800 square feet of it.That's not large by most city hall standards, but compared with the previous digs it is spacious.The back storage room is about the size of the cubbyhole at the fire hall where City Clerk Faith Miller and Administrative Assistant Kathy Bell did their chores.

Early returns won't be necessary to predict one of the winners in the DeBary city election.Council member Carmen Rosamonda automatically retained his Seat 1 when nobody came forward by Friday's deadline to run against him.Two candidates submitted the necessary qualifying paperwork to run for another seat. That means no primary will be necessary; that nonpartisan race will be determined in the city's Oct. 3 general election.Roger Accardi, a businessman who has lived in DeBary most of his life, will run against Rob Sullivan, the Seat 2 incumbent.

The past year has been one of turmoil for DeBary as the city struggles with growing pains. In the contest for Seat 1 on the City Council, Maritza "Max" Epstein is the person best suited to help resolve those issues in a way that will best serve DeBary's interests. Ms. Epstein is correct in maintaining that the council needs a fresh voice, and she understands the basic disconnect that some people feel from the government that should be closest to them. She also has a broad range of experiences -- from running her own business to working for city government in Seminole County -- that would serve her well as a council member, especially when it comes to balancing the needs of the business community with those of the city as a whole.

During his service on the DeBary City Council from 1994 through 1999, Clifford J. Rutz earned a reputation as an independent thinker who did his homework and made up his own mind. Even as a political newcomer on DeBary's first council, he wasn't afraid to oppose the majority. He voted his conscience and, when he was on the end of a losing vote, he accepted the will of the council and moved on without hard feelings. Mr. Rutz, who spent much of his career in human resource training, worked well with the other council members, and he served the community well, putting his business background and training to good use studying issues and asking thoughtful questions.

Long before DeBary became a city, it enjoyed a strong corps of volunteers. They no longer run local government or control the community's political direction, but they still shape the civic and cultural landscape of DeBary, and that's a role that is no less critical to the community. No city prospers on the civic and cultural fronts without selfless, dedicated volunteers. The work they do, such as offering children's programs in art and theater, gives the town a stronger sense of place, a stronger sense of community.

DEBARY — A real-estate agent has been selected to fill a City Council seat vacated by Van Conoley in March. Lita Handy-Peters will sit on the dais for the first time at the June 16 meeting. The council unanimously appointed her last week to Seat 3, which will be decided by election in November. Council members tried to fill the seat last month but twice reached a deadlock. Mayor Bob Garcia and Councilman Jack Lenzen wanted to appoint someone with council experience, while council members Norm Erickson and Lenny Marks didn't.

DeBary will start its search for a new city manager to replace Maryann Courson, who was fired Wednesday night during a contentious meeting that was the culmination of a monthslong rift between Courson and council members. In the meantime, Assistant City Manager Anthony Gonzalez will be in charge. Mayor Bob Garcia was Courson's only defender in the council meeting that led to her walking out just after a 4-1 vote to terminate her. "It was one issue that led to another and another," Garcia said.

DeBARY Could two DeBary City Council members have possibly violated the Sunshine Law? That was the question DeBary resident Gertrude Desantis posed to the council at its Wednesday meeting. Desantis criticized Vice Mayor Norm Erickson and Councilman Lenny Marks for starting a Web site called DeBary Pop. John Likakis, another DeBary resident, is also a co-founder. The Web site, which focuses on political and social issues in DeBary, has summaries and highlights from City Council meetings and discussions about hot-button topics, such as commuter rail.

The battle lines are drawn. The T-shirts have been distributed -- green for supporters, red for opponents. And today, in a tent that seats 1,000, DeBary will take on its hottest issue since its incorporation in 1993: gambling. After months of rumors and mounting tension, the City Council will vote for the first time on a horse track and poker-room proposal. Supporters see an economic boon. Detractors see a monstrosity that will change the character of their little city. The council was supposed to vote on the issue last month, but the meeting was canceled because Town Hall couldn't accommodate an estimated 600 people who showed up. Emotions ran high, and deputy sheriffs had to stop several arguments outside.

Not a lot happens in DeBary, a quiet little Volusia County city on the banks of the St. Johns River. That's going to change if some Midwest gambling entrepreneurs get their way. A company with close ties to Iowa-based Isle of Capri Casinos wants to bring quarter-horse racing to DeBary. Actually, horses are just a sideshow. Where the developers of DeBary Town Center and Equestrian Park will make the big money is with a poker room that can't exist unless it's paired with a pari-mutuel establishment.

Last year, two incumbents were voted off the DeBary City Council, and this year Nov. 4 could be Mayor George Coleman's day of reckoning. DeBary voters are still reeling from Tropical Storm Fay, which flooded more than 130 homes and often left Coleman on the defensive. He is running for re-election against former Army man Bob Garcia. Van Conoley and Mark Meister are running for council Seat 3. The River City is also facing a proposal for a quarter-horse racetrack, which could be built in a cow pasture.

Dianne Jeff is afraid her house will be surrounded by graves.A proposed cemetery site is so near her Sunrise Boulevard home that Jeff said she would be living virtually inside Plantation Memorial Gardens.The idea is so gruesome, Jeff said, that she is rallying her Plantation Estates neighbors to fight the proposal. Her complaints include everything from decreased property values to the possibility of cults taking over the area.''I'm opposed to it from every aspect that you can think of,'' Jeff said.

DeLAND -- Glenn Ritchey is Daytona Beach's mayor for the next four years. Interim Mayor Ritchey, an automobile-sales executive appointed last year to finish the late Yvonne Scarlett-Golden's term, trounced three challengers in Tuesday's election. But some incumbents, including DeBary City Council member Patrick Fulton, were booted by voters. English teacher Norm Erickson clobbered Fulton and two other candidates for Seat 2 on the DeBary City Council. "I think tonight is as close as you can get to an actual mandate for change," Erickson, 37, said via telephone Tuesday night from a small victory party at his house.